Michy Batshuayi has it all to prove in his latest new start as Crystal Palace prepare to face West Ham

New arrival | Batshuayi arrived on loan from Chelsea
Action Images via Reuters/Tony O'Brien

Michy Batshuayi should be used to the challenge of settling at a new club by now. It is something the striker has had to get used to from the very start of his career.

The Belgium striker began his career at Evere, before joining Schaarbeek. From there he went to the now defunct RWDM Brussels but after a year he was off to Anderlecht. That move, however, proved unsuccessful and after another 12 months, Batshuayi was back at RWDM. And all this before he was 18.

It was Standard Liege who finally gave Batshuayi a chance to settle and after making his professional debut with them he shone, scoring 23 goals in his final season with the club.

The striker was starting to find his way on to the radar of Europe’s biggest clubs by this point, but it was Marseille who took the plunge to sign him in 2014 for less than £5million.

It was there that Batshuayi really came of age, scoring 17 Ligue 1 goals during his second season with the club.

Now all of Europe’s elite were aware of him, prompting the then president of Marseille, Vincent Labrune, to say: “There is not a single top 15 world club that is not interested in Batshuayi.”

It may have been a slight exaggeration, but there certainly was plenty of interest in the striker during the summer of 2016, when he eventually left France.

Atletico Madrid and Juventus, plus Premier League sides Tottenham, West Ham and Crystal Palace were all chasing him. Even Barcelona were reported as long-term admirers.

In the end, it was Chelsea who won the race for him and it was thought Batshuayi would take England by storm. Instead, the nomadic nature of his early career returned and last month the 25-year-old joined Palace in what is his third loan move in just over a year.

Given the Eagles’ long standing interest in him, it is no surprise Batshuayi chose them or, for that matter, Chelsea agreed for him to move there.

Midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek flourished at Selhurst Park last season under Palace manager Roy Hodgson, so much so that he earned a spot in England’s World Cup squad.

“I can’t say I’m surprised but I’m very pleased,” said Hodgson, when discussing Batshuayi’s move to Crystal Palace. “A lot of it has to do with the relationship between Chelsea and Crystal Palace. I thought we did a very good job for Chelsea last year with Ruben Loftus-Cheek and he did a great job for us.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters
Action Images via Reuters

“We didn’t exactly send him back as a worse player or a player with less value, so I think that stands in our favour.”

There was a chance Batshuayi could have been lining up against Palace tomorrow. West Ham, like Spurs, were interested in signing him on deadline day but neither side could strike a deal. Instead, Batshuayi finds himself looking to get his career in England back on track in south London.

While it may mean settling into yet another new club, it would appear this could be a place he can call home.

Batshuayi already knows London and the language, which wasn’t the case during his previous loan this season at Valencia. Factor in, too, Palace’s direct style of play and you can see how the striker should fit in well.

He comes alive in the penalty box and his finishing was rated so highly by former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry that he wanted to bring him to Monaco before he was sacked last month.

At Palace, with wingers like Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha supplying him, Batshuayi should finally get the chance to prove the Premier League is his home.

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